»22nd April 2008

Music Review: Biomechanical - Cannibalised

Dear Leeds Student Music editors. Fuck you.
Yet again they didn't print my review. Maybe I should turn up to the meetings, maybe that wouldn't make any difference anyway. I really shouldn't have given them that £5, a complete waste of money. My rage at the music editors knows no bounds now, I have had enough of the elitist wank than passes for a music page.
However, I'm going to stick to my plan, even if it seems beyond all hope now. I'll fire off one more review to the paper, then I'll debate whether or not to send in a snotty letter elaborating on the multitude of fuckings perpetrated by the music eds, or perhaps I'll go into the office and gently ask them why they didn't print any reviews. I'm sure the answer will be 'because you don't turn up to the meetings', when really they mean 'because you're not a spineless suck up who doesn't have a problem with eating our shit'.
The one positive thing about this futile exercise is that it's slowly getting easier to write music reviews. I suppose there's also the fact I can stick them on the Cube as semi-regular updates as well.
Maybe I should write more folk indie sub-pop reviews, or maybe I shouldn't sell out. After all, that wouldn't be very metal. If there is any justice in the world, my good friend Ramzy will have just read this and will be going into some self righteous rage. Just in case I didn't get my point across already, Ramzy, here it is again. Fuck you. Now read the review you didn't print.

Biomechanical - Cannibalised (Earache)

Despite a turbulent series of line-up changes for Birmingham-based band Biomechanical, with John K still at the helm, the new album Cannibalised develops on the industrial and theatrical style which they have developed and puts to bed any doubts that might have existed over the band's future.
The album opens with the lunacy of 'Fallen in Fear', pitting atonal, disonant guitars against a sweeping orchestral score. 'The Unseen' immediately follows but dispenses with some of the orchestral weight to allow focus on some blisteringly aggressive guitar work. The third song and title track, 'Cannibalised' has some of the best guitar work on the album, and is a showcase for the talents of drummer Matt C, whose blast beats add so much weight to the bands sound. Even better is the ludicrous break-down whose cosmic feel reminds you how much this band digs Geiger in the liner notes.

With the opening salvo over, on the fourth track, 'Breathing Silence', Biomechanical begin to flirt with Queensryche inspired quieter sections, creating dark soundscapes with isolated clean guitars and a cleaner style of vocals from John K. The willingness of a band such as Biomechanical to experiment with different sounds is refreshing when so many others are content to stay within the confines of relentless noise and aggression. As a whole, the more unconventional tracks on Cannibalised tend to be the best, as at times the sheer excessiveness of the more aggressive tracks can be overwhelming. When the band opens up the sound, especially as the album progresses, the schizophrenic dynamics and tempo changes really achieve the sense of foreboding and terror which the lyrics suggest.
The album features four bonus tracks which are arrangements of the orchestral sections heard in places earlier in the album. These tracks really illustrate the orchestral feel that the band were aiming for and provide a nice contrast with the bombastic chaos that preceded them.
Cannibalised is hardly an accessible record, thanks in part to the band's tendency toward crazy prog breakdowns and the lead-plated heaviness of the rhythm section. However, perseverance is rewarded with an album that eschews predictable genres and is not afraid to throw experimentation into extreme metal where typically mere musical proficiency is seen to suffice.

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Extar, over, out.

LS can't handle this.